1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to locks for sliding doors and more particularly for locks on sliding doors of railway freight cars and the like.
2. The Prior Art
The prior art exemplified in Strom et al U.S. Pat. No. 1,241,300 and Leist U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,135 discloses locking devices comprising a hasp and an arm of a bellcrank fulcrumed on the car wall adjacent the front edge of the door, the hasp being permanently pivotally connected at one end to the door and at its other end being detachably connected to the bellcrank, e.g., in Strom et al, by a headed pin or stud received within an oversized hole in the link. In both of these prior art disclosures the operating handle is an elongated arm of the bellcrank and is swingable solely in a plane parallel to the plane of the door, with minimal lateral clearance between the operating handle and the door structure for the operator's hand.